SYDNEY, Australia
— Three firefighters from the United States were killed on Thursday as a
large aircraft being used to battle bush fires crashed south of the
Australian capital, Canberra, the Rural Fire Service in New South Wales
said.
The cause of the disaster was
not immediately known. The plane went down on Thursday afternoon as
blazes were threatening parts of New South Wales, ending a brief lull in
the country’s summer of disastrous wildfires.
The
aircraft, a C-130 Hercules carrying a load of fire retardant, was
operated by Coulson Aviation, a Canadian company that helped battle last
year’s California fires and has long worked in Australia.
The
plane crashed in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, about 70 miles
south of Canberra, according to the Rural Fire Service. The Australian
Transport Safety Bureau and the police were investigating the crash, an
inquiry that could be affected by active fires in the aera.
Shane Fitzsimmons, the Rural Fire Service
commissioner, said those on board the plane were experienced and well
known to their Australian and American colleagues. The victims were not
immediately identified.
“Our hearts
are with all those that are suffering in what is the loss of three
remarkable, well-respected crew that have invested so many decades of
their life into firefighting,” he said at a news conference.
As the blazes have intensified, American firefighters have arrived to
help, extending a history of firefighting collaboration between the two
countries that goes back almost two decades.
Since December, about 200 American fire
personnel have been deployed to Australia, the center said. Those
firefighters have largely gone to New South Wales and Victoria, where
the crisis has been centered. They fill a variety of roles, including
managing aircraft and supervising firelines.
Australians have expressed wide gratitude for the assistance; American firefighters arriving at Sydney’s airport this month were welcomed with applause.
The United States and Australia also share aircraft, leasing planes at different times of the year. That arrangement has grown more difficult to maintain as fire seasons in the two hemispheres lengthen and overlap.
More than 70 firefighting aircraft were being used in New South Wales on Thursday, Ms. Berejiklian said.
